


Bibliomancy (Or, Five Additions of Note to the Hogwarts Restricted Section)

by Delphi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Books, Double Drabble, Drabble Sequence, F/M, Gen, Humor, Libraries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 20:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5799202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delphi/pseuds/Delphi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of double drabbles following our favourite Hogwarts professors’ and alumni’s additions to the Restricted Section shelves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bibliomancy (Or, Five Additions of Note to the Hogwarts Restricted Section)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2015 round of HoggywartyXmas on LJ.

“Weeding” was not in Irma Pince’s vocabulary. If she had her way, no book that entered through the school gates would ever be allowed to leave again. In a castle that could theoretically hold ten times its current population, one had a duty to allocate ample living space to the absent, long-departed, and imaginary. Frankly, if it came to it, she saw no reason why the students couldn’t double up to make room for more bookshelves.   
  
As such, when she was put in charge of dealing with the late Professor Bloomwart’s literary effects the summer of 1951, the issue was not “if” but “where”.   
  
_1000 Uses for Fluxweed_ by Agathus Pitt - Section Q, Subsection 7P.  
  
 _How to Train Your Dogwood_ by Vera Kaput - Section S, Subsection 12K.  
  
 _A Field Guide to the Herbs of Scotland_ by Erich McKinnon - Section Q, Subsection 1M.  
  
The complete works of Honora Silversmith…  
  
Irma flipped through the pulpy pages of _Scandal at Thorncliff_ to a heavily dog-eared passage. She skimmed a highly descriptive paragraph, one eyebrow climbing as purple prose edged into blue. She cleared her throat. Well, Section LIT, Subsection 8S, certainly. However, perhaps this one would be better housed away from impressionable eyes.  
  


* * *

  
  
Albus Dumbledore took great pleasure in adding to the Hogwarts library. Nurturing the growth of this country’s premier collection of magical texts was both a duty of office and a particular privilege for a bookworm such as himself. He ensured the library budget remained generous and signed off gladly on Madam Pince’s quarterly purchases. He personally reviewed each publication authored by a member of staff or other friends. And, of course, he selected his own gifts for the library when he travelled.   
  
This year, for instance, he had brought back from Brittany a rather nice 10th century runic codex bound in human skin. He slipped it onto the foreign languages shelf and then tucked an _Asterix_ anthology in beside it.   
  
In Kyoto, the same charming bookshop had provided him with both a marvellous history on the hone-onna and the first volume of _Mighty Atom_.   
  
As for the _Blutwulf Grimoire_ , which had finally surfaced at auction in Boston—well, that had taken a certain amount of coaxing before it stopped radiating malevolent miasma and dripping blood on every surface. When it had, however, Albus was pleased to add it to the Restricted Section, along with the Christmas annual of _Donald Duck_.  
  


* * *

  
  
For Minerva, the affair still had a tinge of surreality when she received the first advance copy from her publisher. She carefully unwrapped it from its parcel paper and examined the cover thoughtfully. She ran her fingertips over the embossed title, then opened the book in her palms, listening for that first gentle crack of the spine. She examined the stitching critically, weighed the paper in between thumb and forefinger, and considered the heavy type against its backdrop of cream.   
  
Then she spotted a typo on the first page, cursed, and immediately sent a letter to her editor.   
  
As she was above all else a practical woman, things seemed a tad more tangible when the money was deposited in her vault. It wasn’t any great sum—no one was paying much for academic texts, if they ever had—but the transaction nonetheless suggested legitimacy. This was bolstered by the celebratory tea with friends and then another round of celebratory drinks with her fellow professors.   
  
However, she did not truly feel like an author until the day she tickled open the locked drawer on the library catalogue and took out a sharp-cornered card.  
  
 _The Art of Animagicae by Minerva M. McGonagall._  
  


* * *

  
  
Narcissa Black always took her time shelving in the Restricted Section.   
  
This was, in part, only common sense. These books would bestow far worse than a papercut given half the chance, and it would reflect poorly on Slytherin if a prefect lost a finger in the course of serving as library monitor. Not to mention it would ruin her overall silhouette.   
  
She also liked to take her time in order to browse. This was where the most interesting books in the library lived, and Narcissa often paused in her duties to pluck a promising-looking text. She would skim a page here or there, pocketing jewels of information and fancies that would be carried back to the dormitory in her head.   
  
There was also the fact that the Restricted Section was dimly lit and out of the line of sight from the reference desk. Cosy enough for a certain someone to occasionally sneak in and keep her company while she worked. She straightened the chain holding the _Book of Unholy Places_ , and when its growling ceased, slipped her fingers under the edge of the shelf.   
  
Her cheeks faintly pink, she traced the crooked heart and the letters carved within: _LM + NB_.  
  


* * *

  
  
_“I will have you, my proud Cornelia!” the count ejaculated, clasping the titian-haired beauty to him. “My love for you is a raging fire that threatens to engulf all of Thorncliff Manor!”_  
  
Margin note: “Twaddle.”  
  
 _“But my fiancé...” Cornelia whispered through her tears. “...my darling Edelbert…”_  
  
Margin note: “Edelbert is an idiot.”   
  
_She felt desire blaze through her nubile body as the count kissed her passionately. She knew that her love for Edelbert was forever lost._  
  
Margin note: “Cornelia is an idiot.”  
  
 _“My innocent beauty,” the duke purred. “I knew you would be mine.”_  
  
Margin note: “Sectumsempra (for cads)”  
  
Severus read on through the well-creased love scene. _Scandal at Thorncliff_ was better than _Hostage to an Earl_ , but it was certainly no _Eudoria of Blackfell_. Not that he was a fan, per se, but Madam Silversmith’s work had an oddly addictive quality. He rolled his eyes at the count’s turgid lance and Cornelia’s quivering womanhood, then pencilled in three more spells of his own invention that he felt would enliven the proceedings.   
  
No book of his own had a snowflake’s chance in hell of making it past Professor Dumbledore’s review process, but his hexes shared shelf-space with the greats nonetheless.


End file.
